The New Norm
by c1araoswa1d
Summary: Tumblr Whouffle Prompt: Kind of a twist on the (a bit overused) prompt of Clara and the Doctor finding a baby could you write where its a few days/weeks/months (whatever you like) after they find the baby and since they couldn't find the parents they start getting used to taking care of him/her themselves.


Clara lifted the little girl into her arms, listening to her babble, chubby fists holding her hair tightly as she made her way out of the girl's makeshift nursery and out towards the console where the Doctor was tapping at a screen and making a face of discontent. She smiled when the girl squealed at the sight of him and she blushed when he turned and looked at the two of them with bright eyes and a wide smile.

"Ella is pleased you've learned to come when called," the Doctor teased.

Looking at the girl who dropped her head onto her shoulder, Clara sighed and responded, "Ella is going to have to learn to take a longer nap so Auntie Clara can get laundry done."

With a frown, the Doctor asked, "Is the Tardis still moving the rooms?"

Nodding, Clara groaned, "I think they conspire against me," she looked from the glowing tubes to the little girl smirking at her. "We're going to need more formula, she's gone through almost the whole supply."

"That was four months worth!" He gasped.

Clara raised her eyebrows and reminded, "It's been four months."

Hands slipping off the controls beside him, the Doctor asked quietly, "It's been four months?"

"Ya," she shot as Ella hummed against her.

"You've been on the Tardis for four months?" He questioned.

For a moment, Clara thought he was addressing the child and she waited, rocking the girl gently until she glanced up and saw him staring at her and she stopped, awkward grin tilting her lips up as she told him, "Yes, Doctor, I've been on the Tardis for four months."

He glanced back at the screen as Ella mumbled something that made him chuckle.

"It's not fair," Clara moped, "You've both got me at a disadvantage here."

Shaking his head, he turned, "Quite the contrary, Clara – she _prefers_ you."

"_Prefers_ me?" Clara spat incredulously, looking to the girl who was now watching her, large green eyes searching hers as she smiled innocently. "She keeps me up half the night, cries so I can never get anything done without her hanging off my hip, and then tells you everything she's thinking."

Ella squealed and then giggled. The Doctor laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"Says she prefers mum."

Shifting forward, Clara told him blankly, "Have you been calling me mum? I told you it wasn't a funny joke, she's impressionable at this age – we need to find her real mum and dad."

He turned, looking insulted before telling her, "Clara, _she_ calls you mum."

"If she calls me mum, _what are you_?"

"_Not_ mum," he replied sadly.

Ella released her hair and tugged at the edge of her blouse as the Doctor turned and ran a hand over the barely-there covering of reddish brown hair that curled slightly at the base of her neck. "Have you had any luck? Any luck at all?"

"No," he told her with a sigh of frustration. "I've checked the planet we found her on a dozen times a day, and when I say a dozen times a day, I mean through a multitude of days, months, years – just to make sure. There are no missing persons reports, no distraught parents, nothing about where she might be from or who she might belong to."

Ella yawned and then let out a series of small babbles.

"_Oh_," he called.

Clara nodded and asked, "Oh, what?"

"Oh, she says she's not missing."

"What do you mean, _not missing_?"

He smiled, slightly, and grinned at Clara as she considered him. "You've really been on the Tardis for four months?" He asked her again.

Clara rolled her eyes and moved around the console to the second screen and she began typing with one hand, deftly holding Ella to her with the other and the Doctor crossed his arms at his chest. There was nothing unnatural about the sight in front of him anymore. He could remember the first night, when Clara paced around the console cradling the baby in her arms, desperately pleading with her to stop crying while the Doctor poked a finger, alternately, in each ear as he worked.

_ "She doesn't like the Tardis noise!"_

_ "Everyone likes the Tardis noise!"_

_ "Well then, you're the one who speaks baby, what's wrong!?"_

_ "She wants to go home."_

_ "Baby, I _want_ to _take you_ home!" Clara had told her._

_ "Hmph, she says her name is Ella, not baby."_

Clara glanced up at him as she keyed in the coordinates for Earth. She half-smiled at him and then huffed out a laugh before holding tight to the edge of the board in front of her, nuzzling Ella as the girl giggled and they flew through the vortex. Landing softly, and quietly, Clara rounded the console and nodded at him, "Alright then, four more months."

"You know," he told her reluctantly, "We could take her to an orphanage."

With disgust, Clara began walking towards the front doors, shouting back, "She's not going to an orphanage." Then she glanced back and encouraged, "Well, come on, _daddy_."

Ella straightened and pointed at him and when she uttered a simple, "Dada," Clara stopped, looking to the girl who continued to talk to the man slowly making his way towards them with a shy grin and reddened cheeks.

"What did she say?" Clara asked.

The Doctor reached out, but Ella smiled deviously and clamped onto Clara as he informed her, "She says if mummy says I'm daddy, then I must be daddy."

Clara turned and grinned up at him, head tilted back slightly and she narrowed her eyes at him, "What did she tell you before – when she told you she wasn't missing?"

His blush darkened and he averted his eyes a moment before admitting, "Guess four months is long enough for her to consider the Tardis her home."


End file.
